I am a most poor woman and a stranger, Born out
of your dominions. --Shak.
(b) One whose home is at a distance from the place where
he is, but in the same country.
(c) One who is unknown or unacquainted; as, the gentleman
is a stranger to me; hence, one not admitted to
communication, fellowship, or acquaintance.
Melons on beds of ice are taught to bear, And
strangers to the sun yet ripen here.
--Granville.
My child is yet a stranger in the world. --Shak.
I was no stranger to the original. --Dryden.
2. One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a
visitor.
To honor and receive Our heavenly stranger.
--Milton.
3. (Law) One not privy or party an act, contract, or title; a
mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without
right; as, actual possession of land gives a good title
against a stranger having no title; as to strangers, a
mortgage is considered merely as a pledge; a mere stranger
to the levy.
One of the strange queen's lords. --Shak.
I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers
tongues. --Ascham.
2. Of or pertaining to others; not one's own; not pertaining
to one's self; not domestic.
So she, impatient her own faults to see, Turns from
herself, and in strange things delights. --Sir J.
Davies.
3. Not before known, heard, or seen; new.
Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the
character, I doubt not; and the signet is not
strange to you. --Shak.
4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual;
irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. ``He is sick
of a strange fever.'' --Shak.
Sated at length, erelong I might perceive Strange
alteration in me. --Milton.
5. Reserved; distant in deportment. --Shak.
She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon
learn to love thee. --Hawthorne.
Who, loving the effect, would not be strange In
favoring the cause. --Beau. & Fl.
7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.
In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange. --Shak.
Note: Strange is often used as an exclamation.
Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the
snow High on the Alps, or in deep caves below.
--Waller.
{Strange sail} (Naut.), an unknown vessel.
{Strange woman} (Script.), a harlot. --Prov. v. 3.
{To make it strange}.
(a) To assume ignorance, suspicion, or alarm, concerning
it. --Shak.
(b) To make it a matter of difficulty. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{To make strange}, {To make one's self strange}.
(a) To profess ignorance or astonishment.
(b) To assume the character of a stranger. --Gen. xlii. 7.
Syn: Foreign; new; outlandish; wonderful; astonishing;
marvelous; unusual; odd; uncommon; irregular; queer;
eccentric.